Nigeria’s Rapid Response Register and personal data protection, By Fola Adeleke 

While the World Bank and Vice President Osinbajo have suggested that a full roll out of the RRR project is underway, with millions of Nigerians already benefiting, the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office has only confirmed the existence of a pilot programme. If that is indeed the case, there is still an opportunity for technical and regulatory audits to improve accountability and the protection of the rights of the RRR beneficiaries. This is crucial because strong institutional accountability is needed where personal data is collected, stored and utilised…

One of the legacy projects of the current government is the development of a social protection programme to lift 100 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty. The National Cash Transfer Programme was established in 2016 and is primarily funded by the World Bank. The aim of the programme is the creation of a national social register where registered Nigerians receive cash-based transfers for livelihood support. An offshoot of the social register and cash transfer programme is the Rapid Response Register (RRR) that was launched by Vice President Osinbajo in January 2021. With the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice President Osinbajo launched the RRR for COVID-19 cash transfers. Following the need to rapidly reduce the risks of COVID-19 infections, Nigeria’s urban poor were identified as vulnerable populations with potential high risks of exposure to the virus because of their overcrowded living situations with poor hygiene and sanitation.

The initial response to the pandemic through hard lockdowns and stay at home orders in cities such as Lagos also exposed the urban poor to deepening poverty and food insecurity, due to loss of earnings. The targeted population for RRR include the self-employed (small businesses, street vendors and petty traders), the wage employed (low wage employed individuals and families such as daily labourers and taxi drivers), and vulnerable individuals and families living in slum areas. According to the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office, up to 20 million Nigerians have been identified as potential beneficiaries under the RRR. According to the Vice President during the launch of this programme, “the RRR is designed to focus mainly on the urban poor wards selected using scientifically validated methods of satellite remote sensing technology, machine learning algorithm and big data analysis.”   

The RRR is generated with the use of poverty maps, which show the specific communities in which poor people live, and it also uses geographical satellite remote sensing technology deployed to locate urban poor wards and high-density settlements. To achieve enrolment in the RRR, the Federal Government partnered with telecommunication operators in Nigeria, banks, and the National Bureau of Statistics. Enrolment occurs via mobile phones with beneficiaries receiving USSD codes and the eligibility of beneficiaries living in targeted areas is further assessed by confirming through banks that beneficiaries have an average balance of less than N5,000 in their bank accounts. While the RRR is a short-term solution to address the economic fallout from the pandemic, the Federal Government has acknowledged that in the long term, it intends to use this process in future emergencies for direct cash payments to vulnerable Nigerians. 

The RRR’s attempt to maximise the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analysis to connect government directly to citizens is noteworthy. If implemented successfully, it will potentially cut out inefficient, wasteful and bureaucratic administrative systems to deliver social protection through cash transfers to millions of Nigerians. However, for the RRR to work successfully, important regulatory issues should be addressed.

The RRR process is largely automated, raising concerns about protection of the personal data of Nigerians. The system makes a number of assumptions that have exclusionary implications for urban poor Nigerians. First, Nigerians on the RRR are pre-selected through their presence in the geo-located areas identified as urban slums and some are required to own a bank account with an average balance of N5,000 in those accounts (as mentioned above) to qualify. These two prerequisites alone can lead to the potential exclusion of millions of beneficiaries who are not pre-qualified by this automated system. The system also raises concerns around bias and discrimination against groups of people who do not fit into the pre-determined definition of the urban poor or the technological means to be identified through the big data analysis. More importantly, within the RRR process itself, there is a limited understanding of the full scope of collection, use and processing of personal data.

The RRR’s attempt to maximise the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analysis to connect government directly to citizens is noteworthy. If implemented successfully, it will potentially cut out inefficient, wasteful and bureaucratic administrative systems to deliver social protection through cash transfers to millions of Nigerians. However, for the RRR to work successfully, important regulatory issues should be addressed.

The Nigerian Data Protection Bill has been pending before the National Assembly for several years. While the adoption of a data protection law, alongside an independent regulator with enforcement powers may help in addressing some of the concerns around improved regulation, algorithmic accountability and algorithmic impact assessments are also needed.

Nigeria does not have a data protection law and the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation regulates the protection of the personal data of Nigerians. The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is the regulator responsible for the enforcement of the Regulation, although the regulatory powers of NITDA as the oversight body to enforce the existing data protection regulation has been questioned. The Nigerian Data Protection Bill has been pending before the National Assembly for several years. While the adoption of a data protection law, alongside an independent regulator with enforcement powers may help in addressing some of the concerns around improved regulation, algorithmic accountability and algorithmic impact assessments are also needed. This will include ensuring full transparency in the decision making for the datasets needed for the operability of the RRR. The impact assessments will also allow public and private institutions to identify harms, risks and mitigation measures in the development of automated systems. In addition, the RRR process should not be fully automated and a level of human intervention should be introduced that will ensure vulnerable Nigerians who may qualify under the RRR are not excluded due to algorithmic errors.

While the World Bank and Vice President Osinbajo have suggested that a full roll out of the RRR project is underway, with millions of Nigerians already benefiting, the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office has only confirmed the existence of a pilot programme. If that is indeed the case, there is still an opportunity for technical and regulatory audits to improve accountability and the protection of the rights of the RRR beneficiaries. This is crucial because strong institutional accountability is needed where personal data is collected, stored and utilised for Nigerians benefiting from this impressive social protection programme.

Fola Adeleke is an Atlantic Senior Fellow on social and economic equity at the London School of Economics. His current research interests focuses on data privacy and information rights.